When exactly did Netflix become a trailblazer for new and inventive TV? It seems like only yesterday they were sending DVDs to your door for cheap, and now their high-quality shows and binge-model standard are changing the way we think about and consume television.
Their newest offering is a dark sci-fi show called Sense8, about eight strangers who become emotionally, mentally, and sometimes physically linked. At first, Sense8 is an overly ambitious project that feels too complicated and yet somehow slower than it should. But after the first few episodes it settles into a groove – small stories that show us how all of humanity is intrinsically linked. It’s visually appealing, endlessly interesting, and emotionally moving. Sensates might just be the next big thing, y’all.
Though a mind-link is not necessarily a new concept; it’s something we’ve seen in sci-fi literature for years. So if you loved Sense8 and you’re looking for a new story to consume, check out one of these three psychically-linked novels below.
Recommended Reading:
The Host by Stephenie Meyer
I’ll be the first to admit that I struggled through the Twilight novels. But I actually liked Meyer’s grown up sci-fi novel about a group of aliens who travel from planet to planet invading the dominate species. Melanie Stryder is one of the few humans left alive when she’s caught and an invader named Wanderer is put into her body. But Melanie won’t disappear, sharing her body and mind with Wanderer, and eventually leading the parasitic soul toward Melanie’s love, Jared. It’s a strange love story, but one that’s hard to put down.
What’s Left of Me by Kat Zhang
This young adult sci-fi series has a similar premise to The Host: in an alternate reality, everyone is born with two souls in one body. The dominate soul eventually takes over, while the weaker one slowly disappears. But Eva is still clinging to life inside Addie, refusing to fade and putting both their lives in danger. Action-packed and thought-provoking, this is a YA series you don’t want to miss.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling
Harry’s struggle to keep Voldemort out of his head is a recurring theme through all of the Harry Potter books, but nowhere more than in Order of the Phoenix, when Harry is forced to endure psychic training with Professor Severus Snape. Rowling did a lot of things right with Harry Potter (seriously, too many to count), but one of them was mentally linking her protagonist and villain. It lends a vulnerability to both characters, while also giving our hero some insight into what exactly the Dark Lord is up to.
